Global Event Group

Did school really just start? Is it already football season? What a summer it has been. As sad as we are to see summer come to an end… boy are we ready for fall {and a few cold fronts, please!}. Here are just a few of the things we have been up to this summer:

LOLLAPALOOZA

Chicago. It’s definitely one of our favorite cities to be in. Lucky for us this was our 9th year to be a part of Lollapalooza Music Festival. We stayed busy this year…. We had an Artist Catering Tent, Gyro Cafe vending booth, and ran Artist Hospitality. We can’t praise our team enough for all of their hard work.

AVON

Our Avon Walk for Breast Cancer tour took us to Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, & San Francisco. Although it is our 3rd year being part of this event, we are still in awe at every stop. It is simply amazing to see the dedication of Avon and the countless men and women that raise money and participate in the journey to end breast cancer. We are lucky to be able to serve the walkers and visit such beautiful cities. We are about to hit the road for part 2 of the 2014 Avon season.

NUTRABOLT | GRAND OPENING

If you are in Brazos County and have not had the chance to see the amazing new Nutrabolt building in Bryan, Texas you are missing out. We were teamed up with our friends at Ashely & Company to host their grand opening. Let’s just say it was amazing – every. single. detail. We were excited to try some new summer foods {all gluten free!} and they were all a huge hit. We teamed up with Chef Peter Madden, Chef Tai, and Chef Wade for the entrees and couldn’t have asked for more creative or delicious results.

Mid-August we headed to West Texas with our friends from Encore Live for a private party. We spent about 2 weeks feeding crew leading up to the event, putting on the event, and breaking down the event. We survived the Texas heat and the party was flawless.

We were lucky enough to squeeze in one last event at The Zone Club at Kyle Field for our friends over at TexAgs. We are sad we won’t be able to enjoy the view catering above Kyle Field any longer but we did go out with a bang!

Well, that is a small snapshot of what we have been up to. We were also excited to be a part of countless weddings, Texas A&M events, and many more grand openings this summer. Our tenth anniversary is flying by and we are blessed to be so busy!

It is with great disbelief I write these words… “2011 coming to an end.” Although it seems as though just the other day our friends were ringing in the new year with us… in style of course… at The Kyle House, it is true that 2012 is upon us.

For individuals it is a time we spend reflecting on the past year, planning for the new year and making a laundry list of the things we will change, do more of, or do differently. But, as a company we are underway doing the same. We are writing new menus, creating budgets and working on projects to kick off for the new year.

As we close out the next few weeks of Holiday Parties, including one bash for own staff, we will finish up the year with several New Year’s Eve weddings. We will most likely ring in the new year with the same group of crazy friends, but we will all be a year wiser (not older of course), and hopefully it will be that wisdom that leads us to an even better year.

Matt and I would like to thank our friends, family and dear clients that have cheered us along on our journey for the last eight years. We begin the ninth year of Global in 2012 and could not be more thankful for the successes and failures we have triumphed. It is truly the love and support from a whole slew of people who have allowed us to soar.

Yesterday we looked at our scrumptious lunch from Monday, so today we back it up and look at the food we experienced last weekend. In a nut shell, our team was working from 8am until midnight each night – so we all had our fair share of Chow Town Food Court treats. Personally, I ate my weight in Connie’s Pizza (more on our long time friends later), until Sunday hit and I ventured out a bit… to the Farmer’s Market to be exact. Now, this wasn’t your usual farmer’s fair. There were parcels of peaches, but everything else was prepared food from farm fresh goods – such as cheese, blueberries, and even wheat grass!

As late morning rolled around I began getting hungry, so Matt sweet talked the fine people at Rock ‘n Roll noodle company for a sampling of their pad thai spring roll.

It had rained Sunday morning so not only was it hot – it was muggy. This light, crisp delight was the perfect palette pleaser. I am a fan of pad thai, but this was so fresh, herbs and all, and the mango was just the perfect touch of sweet, but this version was even better. After a few more hours passed I was once again hungry, but this time I headed to the farmer’s market alone. First up – Seedlings. A Michigan farm where apple cider, blueberries and peaches are cooked, picked and enjoyed!

I inhaled a blueberry smoothie made from those farm fresh blueberries, ice and homemade apple cider… that’s it! No dairy, no fat, no problem. I have never tried a fruit smoothie with such wholesome, simple ingredients. But, now I highly recommend it!

While it was delightful, my body must have noticed the lack of dairy because up next was the cheesemakers. This next treat is so awesome, my words will most likely not do it justice… grilled cheese on a stick (hold the bread please!)

Thick slices of fresh cheese were grilled just enough so the outside was crisp, while the inside was still firm but gooey. They offered several awesome pairings for the top of the cheese. Being the Texas gal that I am, I chose the jalepeno chutney topped upon my lovely grilled piece of cheese.

This was exactly what I needed to fill my tummy and refuel me for the rest of the day. If you want more of Chow Town’s great food or still aren’t sure what it is, check out:

First, I must apologize for leaving our readers for the past week with out a new post. However, many of us Global Gals and Gents have been in Chicago preparing for last weekend’s Lollapalooza Music Festival. Since 2007 we have provided various services for the production company, but this year I decided to chronicle our trip with FOOD!

Instead of taking you from the beginning, for whatever reason I have decide to start with yesterday. So over the next week you will get to go on a foodies’ dream journey. From fine dining, to casual fare and the Chow Town Food Court at Lollapalooza (which boasted chef driven creations from around the city) we all had a week of hard work and good, no GREAT food!

While you are waiting for the new posts, check out what we saw this year at Lollapalooza!

If you ask any one of our MANY team members, most will say, their favorite part of the day is tasting DELICIOUS new recipes! For our core staff, we can slip into the production kitchen at any time and beg for scraps of food – but for our clients, we spoil them with beautiful presentations and wait on them while they select from samplings of a new menu.

Some of our lucky clients were presented with one of these delectable tastings on Wednesday at the Association of Former Students for their Annual Gala Event. We will be catering a plated dinner for over 650 of their esteemed guests held in October. Our Chef James Gaines arranged many delectable entrées and accompaniments for us to try!

Our seafood entrée was a pecan crusted halibut with chiffonade-basil and layered with a creamy chardonnay sauce. Chef James also added grilled asparagus and garlic parmesan mashed potatoes garnished with a fried plantain.

Next, he took butterfly shrimp and stuffed them with jumbo lump crab meat. This was a sumptuous side selection!

Chef James then arranged an eggplant Napoleon for our Vegetarian friends. The seared tomatoes and eggplant accompanied with sliced mozzarella was the perfect color combination. He then drizzled it with a balsamic glaze and topped it off with a sprig of basil. This was a very refreshing dish!

I had this picture taken to showcase all of the plates that were prepared by Chef James (and the beautiful ladies who devoured his creations). We had a delectable lunch and the end result was a final menu selection for Gala this year!

Today I went to one of our G Deli deliveries. I rarely get the opportunity to attend any of our catering events, much less a delivery, but this was for an old client and for 85 people and I wanted to make sure that it went off perfectly. My days have been stressful lately and I was running late, so to say the least I was definitely a little unsettled. I pulled into the parking lot at Southwood Valley Community Center, dabbed on a little lip-gloss and took a deep breath to prepare myself for walking into luncheon.

I was quite surprised at what happened as I walked through the door and began to survey the premises. The room was bustling with people, our food buffet looked great, my hard-working team were all smiles, and I felt a calmness come over me. I jumped right in to help out wherever was needed and I quickly came to realize that I was enjoying myself. The lunch that we were a part of was the 2011 Senior Chic Fashion Show and it was an honor to be a part of it. Everyone was chatting, smiling and of course – eating! I stood there and watched a while and just thought about how great it felt knowing that what I did for a living was important and rewarding. Food is such an integral part of our lives. Think about it. It nourishes our body and we can’t live without it. Food also invokes emotion within us with every meal. It can comfort us, make us happy, disappoint us and can even motivate us. It can make or break your day. Have you ever had that day that was just horrible from the start? Nothing going right and the only thing you can think of to make it better is your favorite sushi roll at that little Japanese restaurant that you love. Or how about the time when you take a friend to your favorite restaurant to celebrate a special occasion and the food is not up to par. This is not only disappointing, but embarrassing as well. Bottom line is that food is important and I’m glad that I’m in the business. I get motivated when I have great food and also when I have not so great food. It motivates me to continue working and building a wonderful company that maintains an excellent standard. I love my job and I’m glad that I had the opportunity today to remind myself how rewarding that it can be.

I know, I know. Our new Social Media and Web advisor already told me today, “What is the point of a blog if you aren’t posting AT LEAST once a week?”. So, I have sadly allowed our blog to turn into a mediocre web site. I apologize.

To be fair, he wasn’t just jabbing at me, but we were candidly talking about overhauling our web and social media. When it comes to technology and especially computer speak, I need a lot of help. However, our friends over at Infinity Pro Sports happen to be the leaders in our area and across the nation. Check out www.infinityprosports.com to see for yourself. While they do focus on sports, teams, players, etc they have done some great work on so many other types of organizations as well.

So today we discussed how to not only further brand, but also how to make our client’s lives easier. Needless to say, I am extremely excited about the future process with them. All I can say at this point is stay tuned! Oh, and pass our blog along to your friends and family so I can make Infinity proud next week! Need followers!

Not sure if you were able to enjoy some of our beautiful Central Texas weather this weekend, but after wrapping up a weeks’ worth of events, I had the chance to spend some time at home finishing up some spring planting. I do like to plant earlier than suggested and I try to at least get my tomatoes in the ground before the end of February. This ensures that I will be able to have a good basket of vine ripened tomatoes before the heat and critters have a chance to harvest them. For this year’s spring crop I also planted bell peppers, jalapenos, Anaheim peppers, carrots, radishes, kohl rabi, onions and of course some hearty lettuce. Green leaf and red leaf lettuces are great varieties for the novice gardener because they are strong, hearty, and I haven’t seen anything that they can’t survive. Just make sure and stay away from the more delicate greens such as spinach, frissee, and endive. Those delicates are much more difficult to keep healthy. It’s not too late to get some seeds in the ground, so if you have the space and sunlight, it’s worth giving it a try. Nothing tastes better than vegetables straight out of the garden. Although not everyone has a green thumb, the space, or can even imagine getting their hands covered in dirt, there are some simple plants and herbs that anyone, especially kids, can grow and use in their daily dinner preparations. Herbs are great for several reasons; one being that you don’t need to start them from seeds. Just visit your local garden center and pick up a couple to take home. A well rounded herb collection that I love includes cilantro, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Cooking with fresh herbs adds such great dimensions to your dishes and the more leaves you pull off, the better your herbs will grow. Herbs do well indoors and out and don’t need to be directly in the ground; there’s no excuse why anyone couldn’t have fresh herbs year round. If you are interested in learning more about vegetable gardening in Texas I suggest the book, “The Vegetable Book, a Texan’s Guide to Gardening” by Dr. Sam Cotner, previously of Texas A&M University. Dr. Cotner’s book is loaded with information and advice on growing right here in our region. Happy Gardening!

G Life, what is it? A definition in 20 words or less would simply be, “Our lifestyle, a reflection of our culture and the daily lives of the people who make up Global Event Group.” We all come from somewhere and Global is home to employees from varying backgrounds; all with distinct personalities, interests, passions and talents. With people as colorful as the food we prepare, we just couldn’t waste anything that they have to offer. Since its beginning, Global has strived to instill its culture across all areas of the company from employees, to designs, to plates, to our Deli’s, to our venues and now even to our clients. Continue reading and just maybe some of our G Life spice will rub off on you too!

Last night was a blast! We had a team of managers and directors cooking up hot pita pizzas and serving cupcakes at the Annual Chamber of Commerce Epicurean Extravaganza. Cassie and Matt Bobbitt, along with partner, Lexie Allgower and G Deli General Manager, Rachel Fogle spoke with hundreds of locals about our newest concepts, G Deli and G Java. Currently, G Deli is opened Monday through Friday in the Physician’s Center. Plans to open the second location, and much bigger at over twice the current size, are well under way. The second location will be inside the the second Health Science Center building on Highway 47. The current building is home to our first G Java concept, also open Monday through Friday. G Java offers some of our most loved sandwiches, wraps and salads along with specialty items. With fresh baked goods with the best coffee in town, we use a local roasting company “What’s the Buzz,” we are able to offer a premium product to the students, medical professionals, professors and staff at HSC.

We snapped a few pictures from our phone, but you must come by and try the food for yourself! We will be featuring the very popular pizza creation at G Deli all this week. So come by and try a slice!